Many terminations of both electrical and optical cables require that the cable be stripped with a section of cable jacket removed from the inner cable core. In all cases, the object of the stripping operation is to remove a section of jacket precisely and cleanly without damaging the inner core in any way. This objective is frequently not met because in order to remove the section of cable jacket during stripping, the cable must be tightly gripped to deform and mark the cable jacket adjacent to the stripped section. Additionally, the pulling of the jacket to remove the stripped section may place tensional loads on both the jacket and the cable core to result in damage to these cable components. Another problem lies with the blades used to strip cable which may nick the cable core, resulting in poor transmission of optical energy in the case of glass or plastic fiber optic cables or in weakened strands in the case of copper electrical conductors.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved stripping apparatus which minimizes damage to a cable, its jacket and core during stripping operations. It is a further object to provide a stripping apparatus for cable that facilitates a precise, clean, and non-damaging removal of a section of cable jacket from a cable core. It is still a further object to provide a stripping apparatus which facilitates the necessary gripping and support of a cable with minimum damage to the cable jacket or core during stripping operations. It is a final object to provide a stripping apparatus capable of stripping multiple cables and removing the jacket section automatically.